Adi Sankaracharya (8th century AD) was by far the most important of the Hindu reformers. He brought about the spiritual unity of India by harmonizing and organizing the vast and complex Vedic literature, and purging Hinduism of many evil cults and practices.

Among the most durable monuments to his legacy are the famous monasteries of Sringeri Math on the Sringeri Hills in Karnataka, the Sarada Math at Dwaraka in Gujarat, the Govardhana Math at Puri in Orissa and the Jyotir Math at Badrinath on the snowy heights of the Himalayas.

The Adi Sankara Conference consists of :

• Bharathiar University (COIMBATORE)
• Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (COIMBATORE)
• Alagappa University (KARAIKUDI)
• Cochin University of Science & Technology (KOCHI)
• Mahatma Gandhi University (KOTTAYAM)
• University of Calicut (KOZHIKODE)
• Madurai Kamaraj University (MADURAI)
• University of Kerala (THIRUVANANTHAPURAM)
• Kerala Agricultural University (THRISSUR)
• Manomaniam Sundarnar University (TIRUNELVELI)

Located in the South Zone, the conference includes 10 universities spread over Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The cities of Coimbatore, Karaikudi, Kochi, Kottayam and Kozhikode are directly involved in the competition, with Dindigul, Kodaikanal, Kollam, Palani, Palghat, Pollachi and Sivagiri as neutral sites.

There are no astro-turf fields in the Adi Sankara Conference. Doordarshan studios are located at Thirvananthapuram.

Watch out for intra-state rivals University of Kerala vs. University of Calicut, and inter-state rivals University of Kerala vs. Madurai Kamaraj University. University of Kerala has the potential to achieve National Rankings.

The average distance travelled by the teams in this conference will be 141 km. In the distance grid below, * indicates that the match will be played at a neutral site, and ~ indicates that the value is an approximate distance calculated from the state map.